The Parents Zone

Part of an occasional series on social entrepreneurs

Parents of children with severe disabilities have many challenges and concerns. One big worry is who will care for their children after the parents are gone.

Al Etmanski is a veteran community activist, and after his daughter Liz was born with Down syndrome, he turned his attention to the needs of those with disabilities and their families.

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Six months ago, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. the Health Care Bill, and some of those reforms recently became law. Here are some benefits that could affect you and your kids:

Starting immediately:
Your kids can’t be denied coverage due to preexisting conditions like hay fever, asthma or previous sports injuries. If you buy an individual health policy in October for you and your child who has been treated for asthma in the past, and she has an asthma attack a month later, the insurer can’t deny payment for the hospitalization based on your daughter’s preexisting asthma condition.

Your kids can stay on your health plan until they’re 26. Read full post…

A sandwich bag taken from a hospital kitchen is being credited for saving the life of a premature infant, who was born 14 weeks early and weighed just 14 ounces, the Telegraph reported.

Lexi Lacey’s parents were told their preemie daughter had just a 10 percent chance of survival. But thanks to the creativity of Lexi’s doctors at Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester, England, she is now 11 weeks old and weighs 5 pounds, 6 ounces.

Lexi’s parents, Chelsea Rowberry, 17, and Lee Lacey, 24, rushed to the hospital on June 26 when Rowberry complained of severe stomach pains. Read full post…

Those baby lettuces growing in the downtown community garden are lovely to look at but are they safe to eat?

Research by geochemist Gabriel Filippelli at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis has found that soil in abandoned urban lots claimed by gardeners in industrial cities like Baltimore, Brooklyn, Detroit and Indianapolis is sometimes contaminated with lead.

Indianapolis has about 80 urban gardens managed by community members, not including personal backyard gardens, Filippelli says.

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